2000 Academy Award for Animated Short Film
This film speaks to the need of all daughters to know that their fathers love them and will never leave them. The girl in the story came back day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year for one reason: she couldn’t bear the thought that her father had abandoned her. In her heart, she knew he adored her and would never just leave her like that. And yet, she had to deal with the reality of his absence. We are left to constantly feel her pain because had she made up her mind on the subject, she would not have come back- either she would have decided that he must have died in the water or that he had indeed abandoned her- her anguish came from the uncertainty of her emotions. She just needed to know for sure. And that need never left her. Friends, husband and even her own children couldn’t fill that need to know, that need to be validated in her father’s love. One could even extend this allegory to God, our Father’s love. We all need to know that too. Only when her life is almost over is she able to discover the truth.
The mysterious water is gone and in its place is dry land. She is finally able to traverse the mystery to find the truth. And the truth set her free- there is her father’s boat and it is RETURNING to her! All her faith is rewarded and she can finally rest. In the film, it seems that she has died and is young again. She is reunited with her Father and is finally joyful once more. Indeed, one can see the Christian elements of this story as well as the beautiful bond that exists between a father and daughter.
A deeply sentimental short animation- which is amazing considering that not a work is spoken..
